Mark of War
by Golden Lioness-Goldie
Summary: ON HIATUS. GETTING BADLY NEEDED REWRITE.
1. Bone Curse

Hello, _lucky_ reader. If I sound sarcastic, it's because this book, titled Scarecrow's Spring Fields, is not the happy-go-_lucky_ type of read [no pun intended (pun _definitely _intended)]. This is my story, a story of a life spent fighting and killing, just because it was my job. Of course, the killing was usually sadistic, hardened criminals, and I would also rescue people (Heck, when I was a kid, I rescued cats from trees and flesh-eating pansies). But I'm off track. This is the story of a young woman who is the last of her clan, the survivor because she ran away from her parents. And where did she run? To a small village, hidden deep in the forest, a thousand miles from her former home, where she (or I) trained to become a dangerous killing machine. A ninja. My name is Akumu Kaguya, and my first name means Nightmare.

* * *

I yawned and stretched. My clock read 5:30 AM. Oh, well, I was late for work once again. I hopped out of my bed and grabbed my Jonín uniform and my raggedy red book. My cereal was shoveled down my throat so quickly it didn't have time to soak up any milk. When I glanced at my mission papers, I remembered with chagrin the person I was paired with.

_Shit. I'm stuck with Hatake again. That jerk has always treated me like a wall hanging. The freak has worn a mask for twenty frickin' years, for crying out loud. He's probably going to be late for our semi-required pre-mission sparring match. I'll probably be there an hour and a year before him…hmmm._

I glanced at my mission data.

"Aw, crud! Is Tsunade-sama _really_ this fruity-in-the-loop?"

Mission Data

The daughter of the daimyo of the Land of the Lilies has been kidnapped. Due to the lack of a ransom demand, the daimyo found a man who knew where his daughter was. A market in the Land of Merchants, to be specific, a slave market. The girl, by name of Miyumi, must be retrieved unharmed at all costs. You are posing as a loyal slave of wealthy but injured Lord Yokohama. Kakashi is the mission leader. You must not use a henge on this mission. The rarity of your bloodline may come in handy. Good luck!

"Great. Time to get out that silk dishrag in the bowels of my closet."

Silver bustier embossed with lavender designs, less than 5 inch lavender skirt with lace-up sides, fishnet tights and three-no, five-inch silver stiletto heels, as well as a gigantic makeup bag (all a birthday gift from a former comrade) went into my backpack, along with kunai, shuriken, exploding tags and other basic weapons. I then glanced in my mirror and gave myself a preliminary once-over. I traced the red marks on my face. The marks, two perfectly round dots on the middle of my forehead, which gently sloped at an almost perfect angle, two red flashes underneath each of my narrow, translucent green eyes. They were like tattoos I had been born with, marks of what I was. They grew in size each year from the time I was eight to the year I turned sixteen. Each dot was about half an inch across, and the flashes, at their widest point, about an inch. Those features were part of a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a thin, straight, perfectly centered nose, a well-defined jaw line, and flawless alabaster skin. My face was framed by my medium-long hair, which was a bright, silvery white. I had a jagged part running down the middle of my head, and my fingers were long, slender, and had self-manicured nails. My overall body build is slight, tall and rangy with very long legs. I turned my head, saw the clock and bolted out the door.

I moved fast enough to scare my neighbor's sweet little dog as I pelted towards Training Ground Three. I took a shortcut over the roofs of Konoha, and peeked into Kakashi's window. The man has no sense of time. He was sitting in his apartment feeding his nine talking ninja dogs with his sloppy stormy-silver hair hanging over his eye. He had been wearing his signature mask, so no glimpse of his mysterious face. The rest of the way to the training grounds, I pondered his reasons to wear the thing (buck teeth, lipstick fetish, birthmark, etcetera). I all but ran over several civilians (and ninja), and skidded into the training ground. I looked around, saw nobody, and settled into a warm-up to wait. Ten minutes later, he showed up. I had just sat down to read my much beloved copy of-don't kill me- Icha-Icha Violence! It would probably be good reading for the upcoming mission. Kakashi took one look at the book and said the last thing I wanted to hear:

"Did you steal that from my bookshelf?"

I looked up, shocked.

"Hell no!! This was a gift from Jirai-"

"Jiraiya? I had no idea you know him _or_ read his books."

"W-well, I, uh, um, I kept it in the back of my shelf and decided I should read it for acting tips on this mission"

"Bullshit," he replied. "I see how much you love it. The spine is practically falling off and the pages have been dog-eared so many times they're permanently curled."

Unfortunately, the jerk was right. It was my favorite book and I carried it around like a talisman. Most likely, I read it so much due to lack of (more like totally nonexistent) love life. My friends were all girls with the exception of Gai, and I could barely tolerate his presence on a really good day. I shut the book after carefully bookmarking the page with an old leaf, and replaced it in my backpack.

"Well then, lets get started, Kakashi. Come at me with everything you've got."

"With pleasure."

The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I had expected this, and closed my eyes. His heartbeat was to my upper left, in a tree. I swung around and quickly, a squelching sound came from my fingertips, then a loud BANG!! Ten small bullet-shaped bones flew from my fingertips, right on target. Ah, yes. The bones. A strange, rare Kekkai Genkai that only I possessed. I was able to manipulate my bone structure, armoring everything under my skin, blocking weapons with bones, even (and especially) creating weapons. As far as I knew, I was the only person who could do this. My clan was wiped out, probably the little brother I never really knew as well. On the other hand, Kakashi's vest barely stopped the fingerbones.

"That's a new one, Akumu."

I sneered. "Like it matters. Plenty more where that came from."

I wasn't able to use my personal favorite bone weapon, as I produced it from my shoulder, which was covered in my vest. Still, I could make Kakashi sweat a little. Next thing I knew, he was charging at me.

"A frontal attack? He's gotta be kidding me."

BAMMMM!!

I was flat on my back on the ground, and Kakashi was on top of me. My vest, which I kept unzipped, had fallen off, and my bones had torn Kakashi's to pieces. Because of this, my rather large chest was quite firmly shoved into his torso. I screamed.

"Kakashi you bastard! Get the HELL off me!!"

That was when I realized he was unconscious, as my hard head (My hitae-ate was tied to my thigh) had hit him on the temple. I realized that some useless genin had left an exploding tag in the ground, and, when Kakashi's chakra had come near it, it had activated.

"...At least he has a nice chest...What the _hell_ am I thinking! This is not just a _guys'_ chest, this is _Kakashi's_ chest that my boobs are squashed under!! He wakes up on me and I am in _BIG _trouble!"

I resorted to my last chance. I reached down low, grabbed something, and squeezed. Hard. Luckily for me, the sensation caused Kakashi to roll off of me and onto the ground. I grabbed my vest, put it on, and breathed deeply to get rid of the blush I knew reddened my cheeks. Of course that would be any girl's reaction to a.) getting her chest shoved into a guy's or b.) having to grab said guy's... thingie... to get him off of her. So, with my PG-13+ escapade over, I sat down to wait out his unconciousness. He came around five minutes later.

"My head hurts."

I snorted in a very unladylike way.

"That's because you banged into me. Now then, if we're done with this farce you call sparring, I'm ready to leave. The Land of Lilies is to the west and will take two days to reach. I don't want to do this mission at all, but Lady Hokage insisted, as I am (and I quote) 'The prettiest woman with a rare bloodline who has the best ability to complete this mission in the village'. Can we just go?"

I could have sworn he was laughing under his damned mask.

"Of course, _my slave_, we should go!"

He ran at top speed before I was able to kick him seven ways to Sunday.


	2. Silver and Gold

**Author's Note: Kami is the Japanese word for God.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, my OCs would exist, Naruto would be Hokage, and Sasuke would be nonexistant. Besides, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction and I would have a 69' Camaro SS (blood red). Plus, I would have sold the rights for a live-action movie years ago. And let's not forget that Akumu would be one of the most important Leaf Village Jonin, kay?:D  
**

**----  
**

_The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I had expected this, and closed my eyes. His heartbeat was to my upper left, in a tree. I swung around and quickly, a squelching sound came from my fingertips, then a loud BANG!! Ten small bullet-shaped bones flew from my fingertips, right on target._

_"That's a new one, Akumu."_

_I sneered. "Like it matters. Plenty more where that came from."_

_I wasn't able to use my personal favorite bone weapon, as I produced it from my shoulder, which was covered in my vest. Still, I could make Kakashi sweat a little. Next thing I knew, he was charging at me._

_"A frontal attack? He's gotta be kidding me."_

_"Now then, if we're done with this farce you call sparring, I'm ready to leave. Go."_

_"Of course, __my slave__, we should go!"_

_He ran at top speed before I was able to kick him seven ways to Sunday._

----

Ten and a half hours of nonstop running. My backpack was heavy (we're talking 155 pounds), my hair was in my face, my sandals were too big (I'm a size 3), and I _could not_ get the feeling of Kakashi's chest on mine out of my admittedly perverted head. Kakashi, on the other hand, was running with his orange book in front of his face. His gravity- defying hair just flew backwards out of his eye. I would be doing the same thing he was were it not for the fact that the book would more than likely get my head so messed up I wouldn't be able to see straight.

"Kakashi, it's getting dark. We should make camp, we're more than halfway there. You may be able to run through a soupy swamp in the dead of night, but I haven't got the same caliber of night vision as you do."

He turned his head and looked at me like I was an uninteresting patch of mud.

"Fine. Five more minutes."

We ran in silence for those five minutes.

"We can stop now, Akumu."

I skidded to a dead stop, put my backpack down, ripped my book out of my pocket and collapsed onto the nearest rock.

"Thank _Kami_ for decent literature!!"

I read for ten minutes, put it away, and got out my sleeping bag as Kakashi started a fire.

"Akumu?"

"What?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"WHAT?"

"It's just a question."

"No. No I don't. The only male friend of mine is Gai, and I can hardly tolerate his presence when I'm in the best of moods. Why did you ask? _Please_ tell me you aren't interested."

"Not at all."

"Good. I'll take first watch."

I watched as Kakashi rolled out his sleeping bag, took off his vest, and flopped down into the sleeping bag. I turned my head to watch, from my perch in the large tree limb, the starry sky above me.

----

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened for the past hour. Kakashi fell asleep about five minutes ago. He doesn't snore. Wow. You'd think such a big guy (6'6") would make some sort of noise. He actually made less noise than the average 5'4" chunnin crashed from a way-too-hard mission. At midnight (don't ask how I knew) I got up from my post and quietly woke Kakashi. He woke at a touch, but I could tell he was not normally a light sleeper, since he glared at me with his single open eye, put his hitae-ate on, and said, "I hate missions. I never get enough sleep."

"Is that my problem? You're lucky I didn't wake you up with a kunai in your butt."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"Or I could have stuck a nice paper bomb on said butt."

"You're joking."

"Not in the slightest. I could also have shot you in the ass."

"Stop talking about my butt and how you could wake me up by hurting it. Go to sleep."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes."

"Hmmph. Hope you get eaten by a giant cat."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing! Just pay attention to the forest, not to me!"

Asshole. Really, I have no idea how this guy's mind works. Of course, the question is, do any girls in their right minds understand guys? Nuh-uh, definitely not. I groaned, snuggled into my sleeping bag, and slept.

----

The sun rose at an inestimably slow pace. I groaned and covered my head.

"I hate mornings."

Kakashi was awake, I saw, and dressed in his disguise as the so-called Lord Yokohama. He was wearing a simple but expensive dark blue robe over black pants and a white shirt with a thick belt. His scarred eye, mysterious face and left arm were all bandaged. Clearly, the extent of the supposed injuries was severe. He raised his eyebrow as I groggily stood up and made for my backpack. I looked up at him.

"I refuse to change into this stupid outfit in front of you. Go away."

Kakashi blinked."You have an outfit?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well of course, stupid. I can't complete a mission of this nature with an inappropriate outfit. While I personally would never wear it, I do have it. Now leave the immediate area because it's skimpy enough for you to enjoy when I'm in it."

Kakashi blinked and ran up into the nearest tree. Somehow, this reaction didn't surprise me in the least. I mused over the reactions he might have once I finally put the damned thing on as I took it out of my bag. The bustier pushed my breasts together so much that, at first, second and third glance, they appeared Tsunade-sized. Those insane heels, while they made my thin feet, long toes and skinny ankles look rather good, tilted my feet to an almost forty-five degree angle. My legs, covered in the fishnets, looked amazing, but part of that had to do with both how long they were (I'm about 5'10") and the fact that my being a ninja made them muscled in a very feminine way. The skirt, as little as there was, would be a big no-no as far as bending over was concerned, at least in front of Kakashi. I don't want his mind to stray from the mission. I would have to be careful about the laces on the skirt, as well as the bustier. I have to make sure the sticky tape on that gets renewed. It falls off and I am in extremely big trouble. I didn't put on too much makeup, but I did make my face slightly paler, my lashes somewhat longer and my markings redder. This was done with my secret weapon:Blood-red lip stain. I used it on my lips as well. My white hair, which I normally left down, I tied up into a complicated half-bun, leaving my bangs to be tied back with stiff red leather tubes (no idea what else to call them) on either side of my face. This emphasized my zigzag part. I clamped a pair of gold anklets onto my legs, and a set of silver bracelets to my arms. Everything I did emphasized my bloodline, my figure and most of all my chest. Hopefully, Kakashi's guise as an injured lord would prevent me from having to (gulp) kiss him. My disguise (such as it was) complete, I called out to Kakashi.

"Hey, Lord of the Boo-boos! You can come out now."

He jumped down from a tree, turned around, and instantly had blood soaking the bandages just under his nose. I laughed at the sight, then got angry.

"Stop staring before I cut out your eyes. I would clean up my face if I were you."

"W-what? Oh! Oops! You go ahead, I'll just, uh, clean myself up."

I smirked, triumphant as I began running west.

----

At about noon, we slowed to a walk as we entered a large, bustling market. Strange, wild music, full of drums and finger cymbals, a wild wood flute flitting through the melodies of deep male voices, singing no words, but deep-throated _Huuuummmm_s, permeated every corner of the color-filled market. And yet, the performers of this bizarre mix of musical textures were nowhere to be found. I slipped into step behind Kakashi, in the slave's place behind her master. I stealthily glanced around me, taking in my surroundings. Large, long stone slabs, platforms really, stood in rows. Every two feet, an iron loop was sealed into the slab. Attached to many of these was a short chain with a shackle on the end, and in each shackle, a foot was locked. Women. Many. Dressed in skimpy clothing. I rarely saw a bustier like mine, however. These women had no expressions on their faces, just a blank look of obedience. All were pretty, all had wonderful figures, and nearly all had some man or a couple gathered around them, fondling their breasts, touching their behinds, or inspecting their legs. Sampling the wares. The stillness with which they held themselves throughout all that was impressive. I realized that these slaves were seasoned. They were probably sold time and again, and the slab they were standing on was nothing new. I then noticed that more women were walking around, also slaves. They followed their masters around in the same way I did, head down, eyes moving. I saw a man stop one master and say something to him. The man smiled, nodded, and gestured to the teenager behind him. The other man began to inspect the girl in the same way as those on the slabs. I suddenly had to stop dead as Kakashi halted. I tilted my head up from looking at the ground, only to see Kakashi speaking to a greasy, ugly little pig of a man who had to be at least fifty. Kakashi shook his head softly, rubbing his neck with his unbandaged arm. The man violently shook his head and jabbed his finger at me.

"Let me take her off your hands for a bit! You can't do anything in your condition!"

Kakashi bridled at that comment. "Okay, first off, I can do plenty! I am walking around. Second, I am not about to let her go with someone who may not bring her back. Third, she's the only one I have that used to be a nurse, so she helps me when I am in pain or need something."

I took this as my cue and immediately put on a face of concern. "My lord, are you in need of a painkiller? Perhaps you would like to rest and have someone fetch some water."

He waved his hand at me. "No, no, it's fine. Just make sure you change the bandages on my arm tonight. These are hurting the skin."

The greasy man looked at Kakashi and said, "What happened to you anyway, Lord...?"

"Yokohama. An unfortunate accident with an unfinished railing in the new wing of my home. I leaned on it, but it gave way and I fell three yards onto the glass floor."

Good excuse. In fact, amazingly good for a spur-of-the-moment excuse. I was undeniably impressed, but played my part and kept my eyes lowered, hiding the smirk that threatened to cover my face. I had a bit of an issue hiding my chagrin when Kakashi said, "Unfortunately, she's also somewhat docile. I keep her around because her nursing capabilities may come in handy someday. After all, I may decide on children once I'm older."

I barely held in an indignant "Hey!" Instead, I allowed the corners of my mouth to tighten ever so slightly. The man looked back at me.

"What's her name anyway?"

Kakashi blinked. "Ask her yourself. She is loyal enough."

The man looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression on his face. I took the brazen approach and looked directly into the man's eyes. "My name is Akumu Kaguya. I became a slave at fifteen. I am now twenty-five."

I used my real name because of the rarity, if any, of survivors of my clan. It worked. The man's eyes widened, and he turned to Kakashi. "My lord Yokohama, how did you manage to acquire a Kaguya? I was under the impression they had all been exterminated."

Kakashi didn't move as he explained his story. "A man took her from the clan before the massacre and raised her as his daughter. He was a doctor, but was forced to sell her at fifteen due to debt."

It made sense. The man nodded and walked off. Kakashi continued towards the large hotel we were supposed to stay in. I kept up without difficulty despite my crazy footwear. He entered the lobby about five seconds before me. As Kakashi walked up to the counter, I noticed that the hotel was lavish and fancy, with plush velvet couches, armchairs and cushions everywhere. I had half expected it, but the sheer amount of money that had to have gone into this absolutely overwhelmed me. Kakashi thanked the man at the desk and turned his head. "We have our room. Come."

I hurried to obey, keeping up the cover of loyal-as-all-hell slave. I followed Kakashi to a long hallway patterned in alternating floorboards of dark teak wood and light pine. I carefully whispered into his ear. "One room?"

He nodded his head slightly. "It might look a bit strange if the slave did not sleep in the same room as the master."

"Thanks a bunch, Kakashi."

His visible eye crinkled, and I could just tell he had a smug smirk plastered onto his face. "No problem, anytime."

"How much did this fancy place cost anyway? All that lavish splendor can't be very cheap."

"It's not. Lady Tsunade dug into her personal fortune to pay for it all. The lord will pay her back in full with interest as soon as his daughter is back home."

Ah. I get it now. I was just about to say a snarky comeback when Kakashi said gently, "We're here" and stopped in front of a sliding door. He bent down to take off his sandals, but I gently touched his back and said, "Wait. There's probably a small mudroom through that door."

He glanced at me, then nodded and opened the door. I was right. He then took off his sandals and turned his head to the wall. I crouched, in lieu of bending down, and removed the heels and gold anklets. We simultaneously turned and entered the unfamiliar, potentially dangerous hotel room.

----

"Are you _freaking _kidding me?!!"

That would be me. I was staring at the room. It had a window on one wall and an ugly wallpaper, just like any other hotel, but the main feature of the room was undeniably the bed. It took up over three quarters of the room. It was not queen size, it wasn't even king sized. It was freaking _emperor _sized. On the table next to it was a full range of birth control and the most ridiculous...ahem...toys...I had ever seen. Kakashi said, "We won't be touching that.'

"No kidding."

Kakashi turned to me. "I'll take the couch."

I may have disliked the guy, but I wasn't about to allow him to sleep on the not-so-luxurious couch. "Don't be ridiculous, Kakashi. This thing is so wide we'll probably not even know the other person is there. It's fine. I honestly don't care."

Kakashi blinked at me. "If you say so, Akumu."

"I say so."

"Ha ha, very funny."

We then proceeded to dump our bags on opposite sides of the bed, take out our respective guilty pleasures (our books), flop on the huge bed and crack open said books. Eventually, Kakashi got up and disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower, came out ten minutes later with a set of pajamas and, of course, a mask on. I then took my turn, and by the time I came out, I didn't pay Kakashi any mind, went to my side of the bed and fell asleep before I even hit the plushie pillow.

----

_**Okay! Every month, I will write a custom story for the author whose story I enjoy the most. I am proud to announce that the winner of November 2009 is Cynchick for her Deidara/Sakura story Vertigo. To have a shot at this contest, review my stories so I can get to your profile and read your stories. Hugs and stories people!**_


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